Known walk tests can ensure whether an input or output device is functioning properly. However, known walk tests do not ensure that all output devices are functioning as expected and that an expected number of output devices are activated in accordance with a system configuration.
Furthermore, known walk tests are manual in that they require an onsite technician to manually trigger an input device and manually perform a visual inspection of output devices to determine whether the correct output devices were activated. Adding to the manual nature of known walk tests, the technician must consult a map or blueprint of the site with the location of input and output devices identified and mapped thereon to determine which output devices should be activated when a respective input device is triggered. However, any such consultation is only accurate to the extent that the map or blueprint is current.
The above-described known walk tests can be tedious and time consuming and are prone to human error, especially in systems that include a large number of input and output devices spread out over multiple floors in a large facility. Indeed, known systems and methods require the technician to navigate the facility to each output device for a visual inspection thereof. Furthermore, known systems and methods may also require the technician to be physically present at a control panel of the system, thereby increasing the number of locations that the technician must physically visit.
In view of the above, there is a continuing, ongoing need for improved systems and methods.